Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
More than any other question, the one I am most frequently asked has to do with the name of our center at CDC, the National Center for Health Marketing (NCHM): "What is health marketing?" Other common questions include "What is the difference between health communication and health marketing?" "Is it the same thing as social marketing?" and "Why is CDC trying to change the name of our field?!?" In this, my second blog entry, I'll try to answer some of these questions and share my thoughts on the sensitive issue of disciplinary names and identities.
As I mentioned last time, CDC defines health marketing as creating, communicating, and delivering health information and interventions using science-based and customer-centered strategies to protect and promote the health of diverse populations. This is based on the American Marketing Association's definition of marketing and modified to capture the spirit of CDC's mission, vision, and goals.
In essence, NCHM markets CDC's products (health information and interventions) using strategies that are customer-centered (the foundation of all good marketing and communication) and science-based (because everything at CDC is rooted in sound science). This definition is not intended to replace other established definitions. Our goal is simply to accurately describe what we do in this new multi-disciplinary area of practice at CDC.
Although the work of NCHM is heavily focused on traditional health communication, that's only part of what we do. We have numerous products and services in media production, translation and dissemination, new media, and partnerships. We work on some social marketing efforts and are beginning to support other social marketing programs developed throughout the agency. We are also expanding our expertise and capacity in traditional marketing areas such as brand and identity management, market research, integrated marketing, and strategic marketing planning.
CDC is putting into practice what social marketers have known for some time—that marketing has a lot to offer public health—but we aren't the only ones. APHA recently launched a cause marketing campaign focused on influenza preparedness. NACCHO recently launched an effort to promote the "local public health brand". ASPH recently announced efforts to increase brand awareness for public health training and practice. This trend is accelerating among national agencies and organizations, will soon spread to state and local organizations, and perhaps even to academic training programs (which are notoriously slow to change).
Which brings me back to the original questions on health marketing vs. social marketing vs. health communication. Health marketing is a multi-disciplinary area of practice, but health communication and social marketing are applied scientific disciplines at the core of effective health marketing and public health practice. Although there is significant overlap between these disciplines, there is little to be gained by fighting over which field supersedes the other. Instead, people from both fields should commit to joining forces, identifying shared principles and competencies, and working together to advance the integration of communication and marketing into the practice of public health. The National Center for Health Marketing shares this goal and we stand ready to help facilitate this process any way we can.
Posted by: Jay at 3:45 PM on Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Submit a comment
Jay,
I think your points about not letting the naming issues get in the way of the important work we are doing are good ones. And I actually think that "health marketing" is a clearer term than "social marketing," at least when we are addressing public health-related issues (though it might be confused with "healthcare marketing" or pharmaceutical marketing by those who think only in medical terms). A big issue right now for social marketing is that the term is being usurped by those talking about things like social network marketing or social media. There is enormous potential for confusion on both sides of the semantic divide when people using the definition of "social marketing" that has been around for a quarter century have to continually distinguish themselves from those who have unknowingly adopted this term to describe a fast-growing new field. While we should not throw out a well-established term, we might need to use more qualifiers to make clear which definition we are using. Perhaps something like "health and social marketing" or "pro-social marketing" would clarify the meaning. I've written about this issue at http://www.social-marketing.com/blog/2006/02/open-letter-to-new-social-marketers.html.
Nedra Weinreich
Weinreich Communications
Spare Change Blog: http://www.social-marketing.com/blog/
Received from Nedra Weinreich on Monday, August 28, 2006 3:23 AM Comment
Jay,
I have been musing over the differences, similarities, and overlaps between risk communication and social marketing. Certainly, as we consider pandemic influenza preparedness today we are promoting specific hygienic practices - looks like social marketing to me. Later, we may need to deliver more specific information to help the public address the risk of a pandemic. When and where do we cross the line? Or is there a line at all?
A. Hartner, M.D., M.P.H
Fort Myers, Florida
Received from A. Hartner on Sunday, October 15, 2006 6:25 PM Comment
Jay,
With the new definition of marketing by the American Marketing Association do you think there will be any rewording or approaches of NCHM's marketing?
Jim Grizzell, MBA, MA, CHES, HFI, FACHA
PS - the link in blog might need to be changed. The new definition is at http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx.
There is a link to a page with the 2004 and 2007 definitions:
http://www.marketingpower.com/Community/ARC/Pages/Additional/Definition/default.aspx
Received from Jim Grizzell on Thursday, July 24, 2008 10:24 AM Comment
Jay's response:
In 2007, the American Marketing Association changed its definition of marketing from "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders" to "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."
Although the new definition is broader than the old and well aligned with the work we do in health marketing at the CDC, we have chosen to retain our original definition of health marketing because of its history and simplicity. Please let us know what you think
Posted by: Jay at 2:33 PM on Thursday, July 31, 2008Submit a comment
Jay,
Yes, the distinction I see is that the marketing approach that Nedra is referring to is generally referred to as "social media marketing", which is actually a more accurate description, since it is marketing through a social medium (in terms of interactivity). I've always felt that marketing and advertising has such an immense potential as a force of change for good when in the right hands. I'd love to see a focus on techniques like Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or meditation techniques promoted in low income communities that typically suffer from hypertension and cardiovascular disease (obviously in conjunction with other therapies, and under doctor's supervision). Taught to people already suffering from those ailments, these techniques might be able to lower blood pressure enough to lessen the need for blood pressure medications. Taught to children, they might be able to help reduce instances of these types of health problems from developing in the first place.
It only seems logical that since marketing and advertising (ie: fast food, television) seem to be contributing to the problem, then marketing and advertising in the other direction might play a part in the solution.
Regards,
Karim Pearson
Received from Karim Pearson on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 2:00am ET Comment